Two Mississippi State pitchers spent their week in Taiwan at the World Collegiate Baseball Championship.
Rising juniors Ryan McPherson and Tomas Valincius competed with the USA Collegiate National Team in Taiwan July 12-15. The team fell to Japan in extra innings, 6-3, in the gold medal game on Wednesday.
McPherson and Valincius started one game a piece. McPherson got the start in the USA’s second game of the tournament against Japan. McPherson went 3.1 innings with four hits and one earned run in the 3-2 win.
Valincius started the championship game against Japan. Even in the loss, Valincius was elite, pitching four innings with six strikeouts, one hit and no runs allowed.
The U.S. team took silver in the inaugural four-team tournament. The teams played three days of round-robin pool play before advancing to the medal rounds. The host, Chinese Taipei, took the bronze in a win over Korea.
The World Collegiate Baseball Championship will make its U.S. debut in 2027, with the tournament set for the U.S.A. Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.
The duo of Valincius and McPherson are likely to be the top two starters for MSU next season. Valincius led the Bulldogs in starts last year with 17, and had a 3.50 ERA with an 11-2 record.
McPherson’s season was cut short due to injury. He started 10 games, going 4-1 with a 3.56 ERA.
Jake is the Mississippi State athletics reporter for The Dispatch.
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